Coleford Investment Management Ltd. Decreases Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Coleford Investment Management Ltd. has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 1.7%, now holding approximately 78,578 shares valued at $17.46 million, making it the firm's 10th largest position.
• Institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple stock, with significant increases in holdings from firms like GAMMA Investing LLC and Vanguard Group Inc. during the recent quarters.
• Apple recently reported earnings of $1.57 per share, exceeding estimates and achieving revenue of $94.04 billion, which is a 9.6% increase year-over-year.

Coleford Investment Management Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,357 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.9% of Coleford Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Coleford Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $17,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.5% during the first quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the first quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $892,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.37.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $232.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 39,382,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,684,536. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $215.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $212.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.